9 Top Podcast Platforms (2023)
To make it easier for you to research the platform, we've prepared a short introduction to the platform, identified its most important features as well as the price plans of nine of the most popular podcast platforms. We've compared the platforms according to their cost structure as well as upload and bandwidth limitations along with monetization tools and much more. Let's get started!
Here is our top 9 listing of the top 9 popular podcasting platforms:
PodBean
With over ten years of experience, PodBean boasts an impressive 650,000 podcasters on its platform. PodBean offers users easily-read data like downloads according to the time of the day trends, the top 10 episodes audience demographics, listener count as well as retention rates of users. Additionally, it allows you to live stream your live broadcast to your audience as well as allow viewers and guests to join your stream to listen or participate.
The most important Features
- Plan available for free
- A podcast website that is customizable on all plans
- A player that can be embedded and customised to be embedded on your site
- Native tools that make it simple to podcast monetization
- Auto-sharing of connected accounts on social media
- Live streaming, which allows viewers to dial in and listen
Price band:
PodBean is among the few platforms to offer a free plan. Their free plan allows MP3 formats and offers 5 hours of space (500MB) and 100GB of bandwidth each month.
Alongside the basic package, PodBean has three plans available to customers paying for the service, which comprise Unlimited Audio ($9), Unlimited Plus ($29) as well as Network ($79). Unlimited Audio as well as Unlimited Plus plans include unlimited storage as well as bandwidth, while the Network plan limits bandwidth to 3TB. It also offers the option to pay for additional bandwidth.
Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is the host platform that is preferred by over 100,000 podcasters. It has advanced analytics that let you track the amount of viewers who download your podcasts, where they're coming from, as well as the amount of people who access your podcast. Additionally, it gives access to a variety of tools, including an embeddable episode player on websites, the possibility to create a transcript of your podcast along with "Dynamic Content" which lets you change the pre- or post-rolls on your show following you've published.
When you upload your podcast your podcast to Buzzsprout the platform, you'll be able present your show in all the major directories, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Alexa, Castro, Podchaser, and much more. It will also enhance the audio file you upload, making your podcast as great as you can.
The most important attributes
- Free plan available
- Podcast websites that can be customized for each plan
- A customizable embeddable podcast player for your website
- The ability to design chapters markers to accompany the episodes
- Advanced statistics for tracking your development
- Dynamic content allows you to modify post and pre-rolls based on the time of publishing.
Price price range:
Buzzsprout is one of the very few platforms that provide a trial program without cost. In terms of their paid plan they offer three plans: $14, $18, and $24 per month. The plans do not offer the option of annual pricing at this time, so it is best to stay with the prices for their month-to-month plans. There is only one difference between the paid plans is the amount of upload speeds the plans offer.
RSS.com
RSS.com offers a user interface that is well-known due to the ease of use and usage. Users can get access to features like full analytics, scheduling tools for episodes, embeddable episode player, sharing on social media as well as a podcasting site available.
Differentiating itself from other podcast platforms hosting, RSS.com has a donation option that you can turn either off or on. This donation button allows you to receive money outside of typical ads and sponsorship options. However, if ads or sponsors prefer your taste you can also get that. Podcasters will find sponsors using RSS.com's Podcorn marketplace.
Key Features
- Unlimited music and episodes for every plan
- A podcast website that you can customize on every plan
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- Native episode scheduler
- Donations can be made through the button on the right.
- Capability to produce chapters, audiobites, episode and transcripts within the platform
Price band:
It appears that RSS.com offers three plans, most users will only be offered one option and that's one called the All in One Podcasting plan priced at $12.99 each month. Students and Non-government Organizations can avail a program that's specifically designed for them at $4.99 per month. The Student plan includes the same features as that included in the All in One plan, but you'll have to be approved. If you have greater than 10,000 daily downloads are eligible for this Podcast Networks plan, but you'll also have to contact the platform prior to signing up.
Captivate
Captivate is a great option for those who are just starting out as podcasters. Its dashboard for hosting is popular within the field for its straightforward interface. The platform can help you broadcast your show on the important podcast directories, advertise your show using built-in tools for marketing, and even monetize your podcast by allowing private broadcasts.
Important aspects
- Podcast Website that is personalized for each plan.
- Unlimited Podcasts, Uploads and storage on all plans
- Podcast embeddable, customizable player to be embedded on your site
- Additional Add-on Captivate Sync(tm) WordPress Plugin for flexibility in control over hosting
- Podcasting Premium/Private for all plans
- A large team of members in different duties
Price range for price:
Captivate offers 3 plans which include Personal ($19), Professional ($49) as well as business ($99). While there is no free plan, but there are seven days of trial free with any plan. The main difference between paid plans is the number of podcasts that are connected to networks or private podcasts as well as private podcast subscribers you're able to have. In addition to these options both plans have the same features.
Transistor
Transistor is a premium podcast hosting platform that includes famous shows like Cards Against Humanity. They provide complete analytics and private podcasts that can be distributed in one click to each of the famous directories. Additionally, they offer distribution via 1-click for Listen Notes and The Podcast Index two well-known search engines that are dedicated to podcasts.
Transistor is a great option in the event that you have multiple podcasts. It offers unlimited content on every plan. The platform doesn't limit podcasters with bandwidth or storage, only by monthly downloads. This helps to comprehend limits better.
Important Features
- Podcasting site you can customize on all plans
- Unlimited podcasts on every hosting plan
- Dynamic Ad Tool that allows intuitive and automatic ad insertion
- Upload the entire episode at once to YouTube
- Special RSS feeds which are unique for every show you have
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
Price band:
Transistor provides three pricing plans comprising Starter ($19) as well as Professional (for $49) and Professional ($99). There are only three features that are different between the plans. The three are: the number of individuals you are able to join your team and the amount of listeners on your podcast that can be private to include, as well as the limit on monthly downloads. The good news is you can use the Starter program permits you to download up to 10,000 downloads per month. This is plenty for new podcasters to get started in this field.
Audioboom
Audioboom is a common platform that is used by the majority of users, giving distribution to directories which are well-known as well as unlimited episodes. the capacity to download 15,000 files monthly in their basic plan. Their approach to the monetization process is what sets it apart from the rest. Podcasters are able to access the market for monetization when they've reached their 15000 monthly downloaded. For those with a huge number of listeners, this won't affect the quality of your show. If your podcast is small, you could be losing out on the chance to make money until you hit the crucial milestone.
Important Features
- Unlimited episodes per month
- 15,000 downloads per month on entry-level plan
- Distribution to the most popular directories
- IAB compliant analytics dashboard
- The ability to access the worldwide marketplace for ads when you've hit 10,000 downloads per month
Price price range:
The plans for pricing of Audioboom is easy to comprehend! The company offers two plans per month with The Standard Plan ($9.99) and the Plus Plan ($19.99). The Standard plan can provide up to 15,000 downloads per month. If you require more than that you can choose the Plus Plan allows up to 50k. If that's not enough, you'll have to get in touch with them for an account for Podcast Professionals that is custom.
Resonate
Resonate is a fantastic podcast hosting service for those who require a single-stop solution. While their hosting plans offer some of the most popular choices, they don't have an adaptable website and premium, private or one-off podcasting, and customer service on their lower-priced plans. However, where Resonate lacks in common hosting capabilities, they could be able to cover the difference with extra options.
Resonate offers a wide range of podcasting services, including the launch, producer, and video production along with podcast marketing and enterprise service. The services allow podcasters to make high-quality production with high-quality shows on one platform.
Key Features
- Automatically made podcast microsite
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- Deep analysis of embedded player
- Built-in Dynamic Ad Insertion featuring announcements that are time-sensitive as well as timed campaigns
Price price range:
Resonate has two monthly subscriptions for its customers: Standard ($25) and Premium ($49). They both include the ability to download unlimited episodes and viewers of the show. But, the microsite can only be accessed by Premium members, which sets Resonate apart from other platforms offering websites as part of their lowest plans. If neither the Standard or Premium plan is suitable for your needs look into the Professional plan that gives the user more microsites as well as assistance options.
Castos
In contrast to other podcasting platforms Castos has been designed to be an WordPress plugin. It's developed to be integrated into Seriously Simple Podcasting and allows podcasters to control their podcasts from a WordPress website. Castos will also permit users to create customized podcast websites with detailed analytics.
Compared with Buzzsprout and Buzzsprout, their transcription service is considerably cheaper and costs just $0.10 every minute. If you're planning to launch your own podcast on YouTube, Castos will also instant upload your podcast episodes to YouTube after you sign up to certain plans. Castos is focused on improving and creating new features to provide statistics reports specifically designed for potential sponsors and playback duration statistics that allow you to have an idea of the time that listeners are watching.
Important Features
- Podcast websites that are customized for all plans
- Unlimited podcasts episode uploads
- Private podcasting feature for premium content
- Templates for web pages that are pre-built
- Automatic podcast transcriptions (optional)
- YouTube republishing
Price band:
Castos offers 4 pricing plans starting at Starter ($19) and Growth ($49) as well as Pro ($99) and Premium ($499) monthly. If you opt to pay annually the cost will be approximately 17% throughout the term of the contract. While the base plan comes with the same features that you think of, the plans for growth plus come with YouTube Republishing.
Libsyn
Going all the way back in 2004 Libsyn has been a long-time participant in the podcast industry. It's a fantastic platform for beginning creators, hosts with short episodes with a small number of episodes as well as podcasts that can be monetized. It is important to be aware that this platform is limited in bandwidth and uploads. This can cause problems for podcasts that have a massive collection of content or large numbers of viewers. If you're planning to grow storage or bandwidth it is necessary to choose larger plans, and that's the reason this is the ideal platform for podcasts with a smaller audience or ones that make profits.
Key characteristics
- Podcast websites that can be customized for every plan
- Ads-based monetization built into the system as well as private podcasting
- Visual-builder is integrated into Canva
- Create a custom iOS and Android application to display your event
- Distribution to the most well-known podcast directories
Price range for price:
Libsyn has a wide range of plans. Three of them are designed for audio podcasts while three are designed videos podcasts.
Audio Podcasts
Prices for audio start at $5and goes up to $15 and $20 for a month. However, Libsyn restricts the amount of audio hours you upload in a month as well as the total amount of storage as compared to other options on this list. If you choose to go with a higher-priced option will provide you with more of both.
Video podcasts
The cost of a video podcast starts at $45 before increasing to $150 and $75 monthly. At this level, the stats remain the same, only upload and bandwidth limitations are changed, which increase with the increase in cost.
Final Thoughts
You're here! Nine of the top podcasting platforms. Selecting a platform is just one of the many choices you'll face as a producer. When you're attempting to find the most suitable platform, be sure to take into consideration your specific needs for podcasting. Consider your primary requirements including uploading, bandwidth downloading, and your budget. Think about things like ways to make money off your social media site as well as your connectivity after narrowing the choices down to your top choices.
Are you seeking details on how you can create your own podcast? Check out the blog entries we have previously written about podcasting:
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